Carrier.



' M. E. SCHMIDT & A. J. FBARING. CARRIER. PPLIQMION FILED JUNE 17, 1912.

Ptentea Mar.4,1913.

2. flHEETS-SEET 1.

k ly V I m nfs eisg UNITED s riinfi iiirr OFFICE,

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1,054,043; T H 'WW m 'Pntented-iileniflnfs. 3 mmzlus'w, me firm-1m, mm. y r

; than; of thesame on of material, is. -Be 1t-lrno\vn t t we, 1h: 3. steel, both thus being eq'u'all nnyielding,re-

and Ammo. Fun wbbm eitmofnie United States, and residents a: the oi county, end State all! *llue joint y. invented oer-thin new and useful Improve mentg a portions, of which the following f other: respects, rehites more 'psiticuhrly to' imflrovem'entsin that clussj'of carriers now ooiamonly known as gontinuou -moving? platforms for 'oonveyefice principally- 9f passengers, andovhieh c'pnsists yrof a series of unitary, mlnbers, or carrii'snib 'quentially, eoupl'edto constitute a subset.

tial y eontintimis moving-platfonn propel ed by the rotation of a series of wheels disposed beneath the some," and nponjthe' trends, or 'peripheriee, ofvvhich the said-rearletter said trends being eownwergg 'pw onset with, 'thetmde manner that the rotation of'the-lattereround ment as 80 its sen and diapoaed' so as to bear'u ind of mid wheels in S\lcll their stationary axes causes thessid rails, with their connected carrier's, to ndv'ance with approximately the some of movethe. peripheries of iiid wheels, Carriers of the type referredtdare now described, for example, in United States Letlters Patent No. 747,090, of December 15, 1903, and No. 763,431, ofJune 28, 1904, ted to. one of us and Gear A. 'Mnylan and also in Letters' Patent 1%: 939,334, of November 1, 1909, to one of us, and to the specifichtions and drawings of which patents referonce may be had for more specific and detailed description of this class of carriers 11;;

neral aspects. Ti e objects of our present invention com-. prise provision of means whereby not only the required traction of the wheels on the rails is augmented and improved, and ir regular wear of the wheels diminished, but also, and more particularly, mealns whereby the hitherto annoying, if not fipl'ohibitory,

noise produced by such tractioh and wear,

particularly in inclosures or oassages such as tunnels, 1S sufficiently diminished.

Exper ence has demonstrated that, m the particular types of moving platforms re ferred to, the hitherto prevailing construction of the treads of boththe wheels and nultsnot only in nndes'ira le sl pping, of the thus mutually opposed surrime invention, though useituli'f'in pu direct ,rit'y for required economy of 'tiveness of traction, nredeterzmned relative speeds of mutually adjacent platforms, and

whenoe prohibito' unevenness in Fen-of snch treads, invo vin'g j'a'r i'bjduelinttenmg, and -vsrying notion, o

-sion of the gietform, nndesimble noises, Including those of strident or percussive character. These, though f endnmhle in QPen-Mro eI-stion, are intensified by reverbeestion in inclosures such as tunnels, relured in cities, etc. Obviation of theee deacts and diaoomforts .lrasproved a .dilll'ctilt problem owing to the conditions imposed by special construction and req iiirementsn of operation characterizing moving platform systems. Fe;- e n'niple iin artlng of r1 heries of materiel softer t an steel to the w 'eels has ro ed undesirable not only begree, the rapidity, and unevenness, of-the wear of those parts which it is absolutely essential to maintain in their original'integower, eifec grinding, or

eripheries, but a so, causes, during ro-,

decreasing, in prohibitive deminimum noise. In such experiments the trends of the Mile, being relatively unyieldin the weight thereby transmitted to the so ter treads offthe rotatin wheels tends, in constantly accumulating eg'ree, to distort, the latter in their required perfeet circularity, thns intensifying the rapidity of their wear, and development of the ther defects referrs'l to.

e have finally-been able to attain the said-objects of our invention, thus 'remed ,ing the defects referredto, by, bread 5 speaking, constructing the treads of the wheels of the hardest and least abrasive Economically available materials, and, on the contrary, inoorporating into the treads of the rails relatively more yielding material, divided preferably into so arate sections.

Formsof our said nov devices and expedients, and their, relation to ,amoving lntform system of the type referred to, are nllustrated in the aceompsnying drawings, in W i'0 1 Figure 1 is a plan orl top View of a, unitary carrier and of pert/s of two adjoining unitary carriers comprised in an indefinitely extended series pii'sun lareerrl ezs contained in a moving platform system of the type referred to; Fig. 2 is a transverse elevation of some of the loadsupporting tmctive wheels and their supporting parts of such a system, and showing also carriers of the type referred to and centrally disposed guide rails in vertical cross-section, taken on the dotted line of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a plan or top view showing the construction of the frame, rails, and mutual inter-connections of the carriers shown in Fig. 1 their platforms or tops being removed for the purpose; Fig. 4 is a longitudinal vertical central sectional view, taken on the dotted line z y of Fig. '2, looking in the direction of the arrow shown in that figure and showing certain elements and members inside elevation; Fig". 5 is a vertical longitudinal sectional detail view on enlarged scale taken on' the dotted line 3 -3 of Fig. 6 seen in the direction of the arrow and showing one of our methods ofsecuring our more yielding treads to the rail members; Fig. 6 is a transverse'vertical sectional view of Fig. 5, taken on the line-a2-m of the latter, and seen in the direction of i the arrow in that figure; Fig. 7 is a transverse vertical sectional detail view on eularged scale, illustrating another of our methods of securing the treads of more yielding material to the rail members; Fig. 8 is a View, similar to Fig. 7, showing still another of our said methods.

Similar reference letters in the various figures refer to similar parts.

The moving or endless platform referred to is composed of a series of unitary carriers A, A, each comprising a platform a. for accommodation of the passengers and rigidly secured thereto thereunder. and so supporting said platform, two rigid laterally-disposed rail-bearing members 7;. 7), having downwardly presented treads (see a, c, 0 (1 Fig. 2). Prior to our present in- Vention the members I). I), have been constructed of 1net:1l-stecl for example--and either of a single integral picce of such steel or of separate elements thereof combined and fortified as shown in the drawings the treads 0, 0, etc.. beingalso of steel. The said rail-members are so disposed as to be in alinemcnt throughout the series when the carriers are coupled together and their ends on adjacent carriers are brought into such close proximity to each other as to constitute, beneath the coupled unitary carrier platforms, as nearly as possible. two continuous downwardly-presentcd rail treads throughout the entire series. is provided with an extension or link 17 iirmly secured as shown to its rail bearing members 7.). Z), below the level of its plat form a and extending centrally and longitudinally beyond the latter. The said link (Z is bolted or rivet/ d to a brace 2' rigidly Each carrier hardestand least secured to each of said rail-bearing members Z), Z).- The free terminal of the link (Z is provided with an eye-bearing member d pivotally coupled to said link by a horizontal pivotto admit of some relative vertical movement between them. Each carrier is provided with a medially located couplingpin 0 and also with a downwardly-extending pro'ection n, located prefe'ably below and concentric with said coupling-pin, and carfrying the guide roller f rotat'ably secured thereto. The roller f is moyably fitted in the interior of a continuous guideway or slot in a centrally disposed guide-rail rigidly supported by frames 7: independently of the carriers and their propellingmechanism. Support is afforded, and forward movement simultaneously imparted to the series of carriers by a plurality of wheels 10, un-20 rotatable around stationary axes. The wheels. of different diameters, are mounted in pairs of the same diameter upon the,

ferred to as shown in the drawings consti tute no part of our present invention, but are referred to for a more complete understanding of its application to, and operation in, a movingplalform system; also that the wheels when rotated as aforesaid exert lractive force upon the thereon down-bearing rails constituting part of the carriers and thus propel the lattcrwilh their freight indefinitely along the entire line or Series which is, as will be well understood, endless in cha actor. The wheels therefore, in this i'nslanc e support the entire load, including the thereto tangential unitary rails, whose treads down-bear upon the tractivc pcriph cries of said wheels; and. tlnfstatiouary centrally located guide-rail f/ extending throughout the entire system. .by its coaction with the. downwardly extending projections n of the coupling-pins. lllPtlllWllllO' controls and prevents undesired lateral displacements of (he rails relatively to the wheels during rotation oflattcr and result ing propulsion of the carriers. The said load-supporting traclive wheels, including their treads. we continue to construct of the abrasive economically available material, preferably steel. lnstead however of constructing the trends of the rail members I), I), of similar material 2'. (1. steel, we provide said rail-members with treads comprising preponderatingly, or

of said. last mentioned treads. We have,

up to the present, found several such more yielding materials, more or-less adapted to our purpose, as for instance more or less fibrous materials of vegetable or animal origin, such as wood, leather, herd rubber or compressed cotton, Natural wood, for instance, has proved much less favorable than other such substances, because of its insufiicient uniformity and homogeneity in ten ture and density, it being perticularl desirable that the material employed sllould be as homogeneous as ossihle, thus insuring greater uniformit o" wear. Materials of other than vegeta le or animal origin me also be employed, provided they are will ciently cohesive integrally, examples of these being even metals more yielding than those constituting the peripheriesof the Wheels, as for example lead or alloys thereof, or of other motels. The particular insterisl which we now prefer to employ in the treads of our rails to attain the objects of our invention is rubber in its various form, or compositions of other ingredients with rubber, though experiments now making lead to the conclusion that much harder and less elastic and abrasive substances may be employed, with as good, if not better, resuits, the basic idee'bein tlmtthe constituent material of the tree s of the rails shall be appreciably, though not greatly, more yielding, a. e. more compressible or impressi- 46 ferred to type of moving platform and its his, than the constituent material of the treads o'f'the Wheels. The said more yielding materials may be secured to the rail-members. b, b, in any-convenient or preferred manner adapted to securei retain a substantiel facing thereof in t e treads under the strains imposed by operation of the reload. For example our, at present, pie feared method 0 so securin secured, as hy screw-bolts 0, to the bottom of the rail member carrying for that pur pose thereto rigidly secured angle memhers b similarly secured in turn to frame.

members (2 with the outside of which flanged portions of the shoe 0 normally con tact and bear, the parts lest mentioned heing firmly held together, as will be readily understood, by the removable bolts 0. The shoe 0 is provided with e. circumferential inwardly projecting fies-gs o which creutes to the ruil members our comparatively yieldin trends 0. pocket or recess o in the downwardly presented interior of the shoe. The elements lest mentioned, including said shoe, we construct preferably. of steel, the same as the rail member 6. The comparatively yielding materiel constituting the trend 0-" is preliminerfly shaped in any convenient manner to fill the ket end recess'o, to presents downwer ly presentedfiat tread outside of said pocket, and to be bounded laterally b the same planes us those of the exterior 0' the shoe. The tread member 0 thus she-pad is, when required, forced by pressure or otherwise to piece, this being permitted by shape and comparatively yielding character. .Qnce in place, it is ing platform, by reason cl: its shape and the construction of the shoe as elmve described. Eecli rail member provided with s plurality of shoes owliicli results in each rail carrying a plurality of sepsrete sections, or separate treads; of the more yield ng meterial, this lure-lily of separate sections hemg of great importance for mesons hereinafter mentioned.

' It is obvious that other menus, and ways, of securing the more yielding msterisl tothe rail members may be employed without departing from our invention. For instance, as indicated in Fig. 7, instead of providing the shoe 0 with the inwardly proiecting flanges 0 and the resulting recess 0 of Figs. 5 and 6., s lacing go of herd rubber may be caused to adhere to the shoe es icy vulcanizing it thereto, and to said facing e block? of softer rubber secured as by vulesnizing it in turn to said fusing, such methods of attachment being well uudersoood by those skilled in the art. Still smother method of securing the block of more yicldin material to the rail member 5, the msterisf being in this instance so slightly cprnpres'sihle as to prohibit its being driven into such it pocket as o of Fig. ,5, is shown in Fig. 8, in which the shoe 0 is provided with downwardly extending circumferential flanges 0'? thus providing a pocket or recess 0 of uniform aperture throughout, into which is introducicle, with slight or substantially no compression, the block of lost mentioned materiel which is removshly held in place by bolts 0 passing through the block of material, the fisnges o of the shoe and the there retained, during operation of the 130V? Though we have shown it variety of means for attaching the blocks of more yielding material to the rail members, it will 01 course he unclerstoodthot We do not confine ourselves to any of these or to any perlac the integral, or unitary,'rail members so as to impart to latter a tread comprising a pin rality of separate sections ot such material is of particular advantage and importance because relieving the treiids of the ar -montative distortion which mightotherwise be disastrously imparted thereto, when t as composed of more yielding material, by the rotation of the tractive whr-ehagainst such tread under pressure of the platform and its load. Such rotation, particularly when one of the opposed tread surfaces is of more yielding material than the other. results in lateral or longitudinal pre sures upon the constituent molecules of the former, which are thus. as it were. gradually compressed into a constantly accumulating wave Caused by the pinch between the treads. This phenomenon occurs of course to a greater or less extent proportionally according to the relative compressibility of one or other of the surfaces involved under the-conditions mentioned. but it seems always in every case present and accounts, We believe, for much of the undesirable disintegration and distortion of opposed treads under all conditions and as composed of any materials of diti'erential vield. Our work in this field has demonstrated that the characteristic mentioned prohibits the imparting of more yielding peripheries to the tractive wheels, as distinguished from the treads ot' the rails. In operation of endless platf rm systems and for attainment of the objects of our present invention. we have found it impossible to impart such sectional construction with any industrial durability to the wheel surl'ace owing tothe nature and condition of the strains thereon imposed under the conditions mentioned. On the other hand we have discovered that the divisioniot' the tread ot the rails into a plurality it separate sections ot material more yield ng, than that oi the treads or peripheries of the tractive. wheels, is not only sutlicicntly durable butalso prevents etlectivcly any prohibitory protraction of pinch between the treads with its resulting accumulation of molecules and consequent distortions of the surface. accelerating wear, or destruction, of the. treads. and also increasingundesirable noises.

\Ve prefer to make the aforesaid sections quite short. say in the neighbor-howl ot'Q-l in hes in length. and they should be so proportioned with regard to the length of the. unitary rail carrying them. and the distance apart oi the axes of the tractive. or supporting. wheels of the moving platform tom oi the type em lo \-'ed as to insure. whenthe wheels are not rotating and the plat-- form is stationary. convenient removal from i between the wheels ot any one or more sections as may be required for repair or other bination purposes. By thus dividing the tread of our rail into a plurality of sections of the more yielding material it Wlll be noted that the accumulation of pressure and accompartying, distortion is limited to expire with the length ot' each such section aml is thus prevented from attaining such magnitude as to result. disastrously. By this means the treads of the rails may be constructed of materials even as compressible as rubber, a heavy load carried, the tractive wheels-faced with unyielding material such as steel, and nevertheless sutiicient durability for industrial purposes insured together with the other advantages referred to and hitherto comparatively unattainable in this art.

it will be understood that the beneficial eii'ects of our invention are not limited to identically the constructions shown in the drawings. but that, notwithstanding our inventions are particularly useful in connection with such moving platform systems, they are also of advantage. under certain conditions. in ordinary surface railways in which the rails are stationary and the tractive load-carrying wheels are rotated around torwaltd-moving axes: also that in such moving platform systems are shown here at least the undesired noises produced by idler loadarrying wheels in the system are diminished by combination therewith of our aforesaid rails equipped with treads of ma terial more yielding than the peripheries of said wheels.

\Vhat we claim as new and desire-to secure by Letters Patent is the following, viz:-

l. in a moving platform device the combination of a load-supportingz tractive. wheel rotatable around a stationary axis, a movable. thereto-tangential. rail having a tread comprising material more yielding than that of the thereto opposed tread of said wheel. and means to rotate said wheel.

2. lo a moving platform device the combination of a load-supporting. tractive, wheel rotatable around a stationary axis, a movable. thercto-tangcntial. thereon ownboaring. rail having a tread comprising material more yielding: than that of the thereto opposed tread of said wheel. and means to rotate said wheel.

3. in a moving platform device the comot' a load-supportiiw. tractive. wheel rotatable around a. stationary axis, a a movable. tlicreto-tangential. thereon downbtarina. rail having -a tread comprising a plurality of separate sections of material more yielding than that of the thereto op posed t ad of said wheel, and means to rotate said wheel.

l. in a moving platform device the combination of a plurality of load-supportin", tractivc. wheels each rotatable around a stationary axis, thereto tangential movable rails carrying said platform and having a' tread comprising material more yielding thanthatof the thereto opposed treads of i said wheels, and means to rotate said wheels.

In a moving platform device the combination ofa plurality of load-supporting, tractive, wheels each rotatable around a stationary axis, thereto tangential movable rails carrying said plat-form and having sections of material more yielding than that of the thereto opposed treads of said wheels, and means torota-te said wheels.

' MAX E. SCHMIDT.

ALBERT J. FEARING. \Vitne'sses:

PHILIP C. PECK, GEORGE G. MEASURES.

treads comprising a plurality of separate 10 

